Here at Scuba Divers Travel Network, we've worked long and hard to determine which of the world's dive destinations offer the greatest potential for adventure. Among our favorite adventure dive hot spots is that fantastic continent nicknamed "Down Under," plus a place famed for its Blue Hole - Belize! Equally incredible are the Galapagos Islands, South Africa, and Truk (Chuuk) Lagoon - all boast features such as exquisite marine life, incredible wrecks, and stunning geology, plus a variety of local adventures you are certain to count among your own favorites once you've checked them off your bucket list. Let's get started.
Australia
Whether you relish the opportunity to view monstrous Great White Sharks at South Australia's Neptune Islands, or if diving with gentle whale sharks at Ningaloo is more your style; or, if all you really want is to explore one incredible wreck after another, Australia is one dive destination you simply cannot afford to miss. Offering an abundance of marine life rarely encountered elsewhere, incredible reefs, and liveaboard travel companies that cater to adventure divers by focusing on sites far away from heavily populated areas, Australia is one of the final frontiers for exciting underwater adventures.
Whether your definition of adventure includes colorful reefs, soaring underwater pinnacles, spooky shipwrecks, or encounters with some of the sea's biggest and most incredible species, you'll find exactly what you're looking for when you dive in Australia. After all, this continent has nearly 3,000 reefs to see, 71 islands to conquer, and more than 8,000 shipwrecks to explore - each with something special to offer.
Belize
With more than 500 kilometers of coastline punctuated with splendid atolls and incredible blue holes, including the famous Great Blue Hole, Belize offers dive adventures galore. Whether you stick to the shallows around the Great Barrier Reef, or if you prefer to explore massive underwater walls, swimthroughs and passageways, Belize is capable of accommodating your wishes.
Areas well worth exploring include Glover's Reef, which is a World Heritage Site located about 45 kilometers from the mainland. There, you can immerse yourself among geological splendors, including caves, pinnacles, and stunning rocky outcroppings. For an abundance of sea life ranging from hard corals to colorful crustaceans and massive manta rays, look no further than Ambergris Caye. The Lighthouse Reef and Turneffe Islands are two other areas not to be missed. Once you've gotten a taste of diving in Belize, you'll be bound to agree with Just Gotta Dive (JGD) - these adventure dives are world class.
Galapagos Islands
Whether you prefer to enjoy the services liveaboards offer, or if you prefer land based diving adventures, you'll find them at the Galapagos Islands. Best of all, it doesn't matter if all you have is just a few days to spend diving, or if you have the opportunity to spend several weeks; either way, you'll get the opportunity to view at least some of the many species found here, which can be seen nowhere else in the world. In addition, some of the world's best shark diving can be found in the Galapagos; for example, schools of scalloped hammerheads sometimes containing hundreds of individuals can be seen at Darwin and Wolf Islands, and juvenile hammerheads are often encountered in the shallows throughout the Galapagos Islands.
The Galapagos consist of 13 major islands and dozens of volcanic islets and rock formations teeming with life. One of the world's last true wilderness areas, populated with unique species, this is a place you must visit at least once in your life.
South Africa
Well known for its diversity, South Africa boasts a coastline 3,000 kilometers long, with five distinct underwater biomes to explore. North of KwaZulu-Natal, you'll find splendid coral reefs filled with an abundance of Indo-Pacific fish species, and along the west coast, vibrantly colored invertebrates populate the rocky reefs. Off Cape Town, you can immerse yourself in some of the most incredible kelp forests the world has to offer; among the towering green strands, sand tiger sharks and yellowtails await.
Whether you seek the thrill of diving a major wreck - the Lusitania, for example - or if natural wonders appeal to you most, you are certain to find an abundance of adventures all along the South African coastline. Just Gotta Dive's favorite dive spots in South Africa include Aliwal Shoal, along with additional sites found in Durban, Umkomass, and Gansbaai. Deep sea dive sites and challenging drifts abound in the Shelly Beach area as well as in the province of Mapuntaland, where some divers have been fortunate enough to encounter as many as twenty species of sharks on just a single dive. Whether you seek tranquil beauty, mysterious shipwrecks, or heart-stopping encounters with bull sharks, hammerheads, great whites, and others, South Africa's adventure dive sites are certain to suit you perfectly.
Truk Lagoon
Adventures? Check. Wreck diving? Check. Marine life? You bet! Truk Lagoon (also known as Chuuk Lagoon) is known as the wreck diving capital of the world for good reason. This sheltered central Pacific location features an atoll with a protective 225 kilometer reef surrounding a natural harbor which covers an area approximately 2,130 kilometers square. While the locale is idyllic, the area's history is astonishing.
During the second World War, Truk Lagoon served as the main base for the Empire of Japan. Well-fortified, with bunkers, airstrips, torpedo boat stations and submarine repair shops, the lagoon served as the Imperial Fleet's forward anchorage. In 1944, the United States struck in Operation Hailstone, ultimately sending 60 ships and 249 aircraft to the bottom. Today, Truk Lagoon is the largest ship graveyard in the world.
Today's divers enjoy much more convenience than Jacques Cousteau did, when he visited; live-aboard vessels are well equipped and tend to take on small parties of guests, ensuring all on board experience true adventure diving at its finest.
Scuba Divers Travel Network features in-depth information with dive site details that cover our favorite adventure dive regions and many more, all with the intent to make your dive vacation as rewarding as possible. Be sure to spend a few minutes investigating the adventure dive sites that interest you most, and you'll be well on your way to planning the diving adventure of a lifetime.